The present invention relates generally to oil containment boom hardware and more specifically to oil containment boom connectors. Oil containment booms are often used to confine oil spills on the open sea. Since oil spills vary greatly in size and shape, oil containment hinges must facilitate rapid shortening or lengthening of the oil containment boom. Oil containment booms have therefore conventionally been broken into sections and provided with connectors which are flexible and allow the boom to form around the oil spill in any desired length. Conventional oil containment boom connectors, however, suffer from many disadvantages and limitations. For example, a conventional oil containment boom connector has been developed by the Flexy Oil Boom Company which has a socket and bead connection that allows horizontal displacement of the oil containment boom for shore attachment of one of the connectors to a pier or other stationary object. The shore attachment connector allows the oil containment boom to be attached to a stationary object but does not allow the floating section of the boom to follow tidal variations. Furthermore, although the Flexy Oil Boom connectors are simply constructed and inexpensive to manufacture, they are not easily assembled since the bead is made to fit tightly within the socket such that oil does not leak through the connection. If the bead is made smaller to allow easy assembly, the connection is found to leak oil. Therefore, the Flexy Oil Boom connector has been found to either leak oil or is fairly hard to assemble and, in any event, does not adjust to tidal variations.
Other prior art oil containment boom connectors have not shown the simplicity of design of the socket and bead connector and have relied on complex mechanical devices which are costly and unreliable or more simply designed devices which require an assembly procedure which is lengthy and difficult to carry out in open sea conditions.